Fruit-tray.



A. M. LANE.

FRUIT TRAY.

APPLICATION FILED JAN.I9,I916.

' 1,289,203. Patented Dec. 31, 19 18. .10 fl/yyfz 7; %f a 1 MM 7 g W $7.

rrnn srarnsrarnnr carton.

ALFRED M. LANE, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, ASSIGNOR TO MONARCI-I METALWEATHER STRIP COMPANY, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, A CORPORATION OFMISSOURI.

FRUIT-TRAY.

Application filed January 19, 1918 To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALrRnnM. LANE, a citizen of the United States, and aresident of the city of St. Louis andState of Missouri, have invented anew and useful Im provement in Fruit-Trays, of which the following isa'specification.

'IIlfikG it easy to replace the openwork bot- 15.

tom; and also to provide for taking up slack in the bottom.

The invention consists in the construction hereinafter more fullydescribed and claimed. In the accompanying drawing wherein like numeralsdesignate like parts wherever they occur,

Figure l is a plan view of a tray embodying my invention, with certain;portions broken away;

7 Fig. 2 is a cross sectional View of the marginal portion of the trayillustrated in Fig. 1;

. in Figs. 1, 2' and 3, the body portion of the tray comprises foursections 7 of sheet metal having their ends mitered to'constitute thesides and ends of the tray. 7 Their top and bottom margins are curled orbeaded; and

'stiif wire corner pieces 8 are inserted in the meeting ends of adjacentsections to reinforce the corners of the tray.

Each of the side and end sections 7 has a horizontal portion, 9 an upperportion 10 extending upwardly from the inner margin of said horizontalportion and preferably inclined outwardly and a lower portion 12extending downwardly from the outer mar- [gin of said horizontalportion. The horiz'ontal portion 9 thus constitutes an offset orshoulder beneath which extends an openwork bottom, 13, preferably asheet of wire cloth. This sheet of wire cloth is of greater dimensionsthan those of the vertical lower portion of the tray so that themarginal portionsof said wire cloth are bent to lie Specification ofLetters Patent.

- and convenient stacks.

Fig. 3 -is a-bottom view of the corner portion of the fruit tray shownin Fig. 1; and

Patented Dec. 31, 1918.

Serial No. 212,762..

against the vertical lower portion of the tray. Located inside of thebent marginal .portion of the wire cloth and extending around the foursides of the tray is a bar or frame 14 which is adapted to clamp thewire cal lower portion of the tray and the downturned portion of the'wire cloth, so as to clamp the wire cloth firmly between them.

This clamping and reinforcing bar may be of such width that its upperedge binds the horizontal portion of the wire cloth against thehorizontal shoulder of the tray.

Preferably the contour of the upper edge of the tray is so much smallerthan the contour of the bottom edge that when a multiplicity of similartrays are used, it is possible to pile them, one on another, in stableFor this purpose the overall dimensions of the upper portion should beless than the dimensions inside of this clamping bar. One of the greatadvantages of the construction above described is the fact that the wirecloth spans from wall to wall of the tray,-in consequence of which theentire contents of the tray are well exposed to ventilation and thedevice is not as likely to accumulate litter as those devices whereinthe marginal portions of the wire cloth rest on an imperforated flange.Another great advantage of this construction is the facility with whichthe wire cloth may be mounted, dismounted and replaced whenever occasionrequires: In order to mount the wire cloth, it is simply necessary tobend it over the outer edge of the clamping and reinforcing bar and thenplace them in position and secure them by the screws.

The construction illustrated in Fig. 4 is a modification wherein thelower edges of the side and end sections are simply doubled back withoutother reinforcement and wherein the clamping and reinforcing frame isheld by means of bolts 16 which extend inwardlythrough the ends of thetray sections, wire cloth and clampin and reinforcing frame and areprovided with nuts 17 on their threadedinner ends.

Fig. 5 illustrates another modification whose particular merit is theconvenience".

with which the wire cloth may be tightened in case it becomes slack. Inthis construction, the portion of the tray sections beneath thehorizontal shoulder is formed with a V-shaped shoulder 18 and withrebent horizontal and vertical portions 19 and 20 intended to stiffenthe frame. Opposite the V- shaped shoulder on the inner side thereof, isa clamping member made of sheet metal bent into a shape hereinafterreferred to as channel-shaped. The longitudinal middle portion 21 ofthis clamping member is flat and disposed vertically; and itslongitudinal side portions 22 are bent horizontally and thence are bentinwardly and backw ardly at an inclination as at 23 and are again bentso that their extreme marginal portions are disposed substantiallyvertically. In this construction, the marginal portion of the wire.cloth is looped over the V-shaped rib and the clamping member is placedwith its throat opposite the tip of the rib and with its in- .clinedportions'23 bearing against the wire cloth. Horizontally disposed screwbolts 24 extending through the tip of the V-shaped shoulder and the baseof thechannel shaped locking members are provided with nuts 25 on theends. The particular advantage of this arrangement is that the lockingmember has a certain resiliency by which it is adaptedto spread and rideoutwardly on the V- shaped rib thereby taking up the slack in the wirecloth and tighteningthe same in place.

The construction illustratedin Fig. 6 is 2 another modificationembodying some of the principal features of the construction first abovedescribed. In this construction, the lower edges 26 of the sections aresimply flanged inwardly; and while this construction is a very simpleone, it requires the locking bar or frame to be sprung into position.

Obviously my invention is not limited to the details ofthe constructionheretofore described.

What I claim is:

1. A fruit tray comprising walls with an inwardly offset portion and anopenwork .bottom extending underneath said offset and devices locatedunder said offset portion for securing said bottom without obstructingthe opening of the offset.

A fruit tray whose walls comprise a horizontal portion, a portionextending upw ardly from the inner margin thereof and a portionextending downwardly from the v outer margin thereof, and an openworkbottom extending underneath said horizontal portlon and devices locatedunder said offset portion for securing said bottom without ob-.structlng the opening of the offset.

3. A fruit tray whose walls gomprise a horizontalportion, a portionextending up- Wa'rdly from the inner margin thereof and.

outer margin thereof, and an openwork bottom extending underneath saidhorizontal portion, the upper portion being small enough to enter thelower portion of a similar tray of the same dimensions.

at. A fruit tray whose walls comprise a horizontal portion, a portionextending up wardly from the inner margin thereof and a portionextending downwardly from the outer margin thereof, and an openworkbottom extendin underneath said horizontal portion and having downturnedmargins clamping members inside of said downturned margins but beyondthe inner margin of said horizontal portion, and means for securing saidmembers to the lowermost portion of the walls and thereby clamping saidbottom in place.

5 A fruit tray whose walls comprise a horizontal portion, a portionextending upwardly from the inner margin thereof and a portion extendingdownwardly from the outer margin thereof, and an openwork bottomextending underneath said horizontal portion and having downturnedmargins, clamping members inside of said downturned margins but beyondthe inner margin of said horizontal portion, and means for securing saidmembers to the lowermost portion of the walls and thereby removablyclamping said bottom in place. 6. A fruit tray whose walls have'ahorizontal portion, a portion extending upwardly from the inner marginof saidhorizontal sectionand a portion extending idownwardly from theouter margin thereof, and an openwork bottom extending undersaidhorizontal portion and a clamping frame insertible and withdrawablethrough the lower opening of said walls independently of said 1 bottomfor removably securing said bottom in place.

7. A fruit tray whose walls have a horizontal portion, a portioninclining continuously upwardly and outwardly from the 110 inner marginof said horizontal section and a portion extending downwardly from theouter margin thereof, and an openwork bottom extending under saidhorizontal portion, and means under said hori- 115 zontal portion andbeyond the inner margin thereof for securing said bottom withoutobstructing the opening covered thereby.

8. A fruit tray whose walls have a horizontal portion, a portionextending up- 120 Wardly from the inner margin of said horizontalportion and a portion extending downwardly from the outer marginthereof, and an openwork bottom extending under said horizontal portionand having its mar- 125 gins turned downyand means for securing saidbottom, said means comprising a clamping frame 'insertible' andwithdrawable through the lower openingof said walls. a portion extendingdownwardly from the 9. A fruit tray-whosewallshave a hori 13o zontalportion, a portion extending up Wardly from the inner margin of saidhorizontal portion and a portion extending downwardly from the outermargin thereof, the opening between the lower portion of said Wallsbeing greatest at the lower end thereof, and an openwork bottomextending under said horizontal portion, and means inserti'ble andwithdrawable through said opening for reinovably securing" said bottomto the lower 10 Signed at St. Louis, Missouri, this 15th 15 day ofJanuary, 1918.

ALFRED M. LANE.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. 0."

